Chapter 218: Torchlight’s Bai Li
“What species is this?” Xu Qing said as he continued backing up.
“The Revered Ancient mainland is too big and there are too many species there,” the Captain replied, looking a bit confused as he also backed up. “It looks like a variant type of Threadwyrm. I vaguely remember reading a file back in the Intelligence Division which mentioned them. Let me think.”
Seeing Xu Qing and the Captain backing away, the nonhuman which had emerged from the Seastar chieftain grinned and blurred into motion.
Xu Qing’s expression turned grim, and the Captain’s pupils constricted. Unfortunately, neither of them was fast enough to flee from someone in the Nascent Soul level. Xu Qing’s vision swam as something slammed into him, and he was sent flying back, blood spraying out of his mouth. The same thing happened to the Captain.
Thanks to the shield created by the pendant, though Xu Qing was thrown backward 300 meters, he wasn’t injured. That said, his organs vibrated painfully, and he could tell that if this fight kept going, the pendant would eventually stop working.
The nonhuman was about to launch into another attack when a column of blue fire fell from above, blocking his path. Rumbling sounds filled the sky, and the ground shook violently as even more fire descended, consuming countless Seastar cultivators.
Wherever they died, threadworms crawled out of their corpses. The gruish nature of the scene attracted the attention of all the Sixth Peak disciples, and even Master Sixth. And when Master Sixth saw what happened to the Seastar chieftain, he crushed the Seastar patriarch with a palm, then performed an incantation gesture to block the chieftain from reaching Xu Qing and the Captain.
“He’s an Ironthread!” Master Sixth said, rushing down.
When the Captain heard those words, his expression flickered and he said, “Xu Qing! I remember now....”
As for the nonhuman, when he heard the words, he looked up into the sky and laughed. “It seems I underestimated this sect. That said, you’re only a single Nascent Soul cultivator. Do you really think you qualify to disturb my cultivation?”
The Ironthread lifted his right hand and pointed up to the sky. The wind and clouds seethed as rumbling sounds filled the dome of heaven. Something like the howls of gods echoed out in all directions as three huge spell formations appeared overhead, circular and glowing brightly. Each was fully 3,000 meters in size, and they emanated a shockingly powerful force of teleportation.
Astonishingly, figures began to pour out of the teleportation portals.
From within the first teleportation portal emerged a group of nonhuman cultivators with wings. They were pitch black, making them look almost exactly like crows. As they emerged, shocking killing intent rolled off of them, especially the one in the lead position, whose eyes glittered with sparks of electricity, and who pulsed with the fluctuations of a Nascent Soul cultivation base.
Things weren’t over yet.
From within the second teleportation portal came a group of nonhuman cultivators with elephant trunks and incredibly muscular bodies. Leading them was a burly man who also had Nascent Soul fluctuations, and whose expression was incomparably vicious.
A similar group emerged from the third portal. They were the strangest-looking of all. They appeared to be made from seaweed, and had triangular eyes. They emanated shocking energy that seemed capable of draining wildlands and crushing mountains, and were also led by a Nascent Soul expert.
Upon seeing them, the Captain’s pupils constricted.
“Sixwing Inkravens. Herculean Mammoths. And Snakekelp Daemons. They aren’t exactly major species. They’re on the same level as the Seastars. But the Sixwing Inkravens are allies of Seven Blood Eyes. And the other two are neither allies nor enemies.”
Even as the Captain explained these things, the three groups of newcomers turned without a word and shot toward Master Sixth and the Sixth Peak! They had no fear of death, and in fact, some of them made suicide attacks to damage the mountain peak. When looking closely, it was possible to see threadworms emerging from those who died. These three species had all been taken over just like the Seastars!
Master Sixth was obviously hindered by the onslaught. As for Xu Qing and the Captain, they had no choice but to flee. The two of them could fight an early Gold Core enemy, but when it came to Nascent Soul, there was no way they were strong enough.
Not even the patriarch’s calligraphy could give them an edge, unless they used it at an absolutely critical juncture.
“I’m curious to see how long your defenses will last against us!” said the nonhuman who had once been the Seastar chieftain.
Meanwhile, as the Captain fled, he suddenly looked over his shoulder and blurted, “You’re Bai Li! Bai Li of the Ironthreads!” [1]
Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed, while Bai Li’s expression was one of surprise.
It would have been amusing to Bai Li if one of the peaklords from Seven Blood Eyes stated his identity out loud. After all, he had the feeling the peaklord knew who he was. But instead, it was a low-level cultivator who actually knew his name. It almost seemed unbelievable.
“I really didn’t think someone like you from a place like this would know me. You’re a very interesting character.”
Eyes narrowing, the Captain continued, “Bai Li of the Ironthread species. A sixty-year-cycle ago, he was a consummate chosen among the Ironthreads. His people even claimed that he had the potential to walk the same path as the Ancient Emperors and Imperial Sovereigns. But for some unknown reason, he betrayed them, sowing chaos among his people and desecrating their holy object. It was a catastrophe in which countless of his people died. After he left, he joined a secret society called Torchlight!”
“Very amusing. You’ve obviously read your fair share of intelligence reports. I think I’ll soulsearch you to find out what else you know.”
Bai Li closed in. The Captain’s eyes glittered brightly. Xu Qing’s expression turned vicious as he pulled out the patriarch’s calligraphy.
Just when it seemed they would clash, a cold snort echoed down from the dome of heaven, like thunder. High in the sky, a bottle gourd appeared above Master Sixth’s head. It was the same gourd that hadn’t left his hand since his wife and son died.
Now, it suddenly erupted with an incisive, baleful aura as its exterior came to life with countless weapons. They all flew out into the open, soaring out like gliding phoenixes and soaring dragons. They seemed to represent every weapon imaginable. There were sabers, spears, swords, halberds, hatchets, battle-axes, hooks, tridents, and more. There had to be millions of them, and they created a massive vortex of weapons that could crush anything in its path.
The vortex headed toward the three groups of newcomers. Almost instantly, it struck the three Nascent Soul patriarchs that Bai Li had summoned. They couldn’t avoid it, and blood sprayed out of their mouths as they were sent spinning away, heavily injured and coughing up blood. As for the other members of the three species, as the vortex of weapons approached, pulsing with a baleful aura, all they could do was look on in shock. Most were ripped to shreds, instantly killed. And those that initially survived obviously wouldn’t last for much longer.
It was even possible to see a beam of light shooting out of the bottle gourd, carrying with it consummate ferocity and disdain toward the nonhumans.
RUMBLE!
The nonhumans hovering there were shocked as they got the sensation they were about to be exterminated by heaven and executed by the earth.
Apparently, all of this wasn’t enough, as Master Sixth performed an incantation gesture and pointed at the Sixth Peak. Flames erupted from it in all directions, engulfing both the Seastars and the survivors from the other three species. Everything was being scorched and melted away.
For the first time, Bai Li’s facial expression changed. “What magical device is that? How could that baleful aura be so incisive??”
Being unable to kill Xu Qing and the Captain, he vanished in a minor teleportation. When he reappeared, he was in midair not very far away, clearly preparing to make his escape.
Then Master Sixth spoke, and his voice trembled with fury and killing intent. “I was wondering why weaklings like the Seastars would have the gall to do something this big. As it turns out, they were being manipulated behind the scenes by a wanted criminal from the Revered Ancient mainland, someone working for the detestable Torchlight. A vile fugitive!”
The bottle gourd above his head erupted further, the baleful aura creating a tempest full of innumerable weapons that shot directly toward Bai Li.
Bai Li was shaken, and wanted to flee. But Master Sixth stood atop the maelstrom of weapons, closing in with a palm strike. Being unable to escape, a strange light glittered in Bai Li’s eyes, and he spun to fight Master Sixth. When they clashed, heaven reeled and the earth quaked. Deafening rumbling sounds crashed everywhere, and all of the onlookers sped in the opposite direction.
Xu Qing looked on gravely, relying on the pendant to keep him safe.
Next to him, the Captain grinned, his eyes glittering with crazy greed as he said, “I honestly can’t believe we’ve run into someone from the legendary Torchlight.... From what I’ve heard, every member of that group is a real character.”
Xu Qing looked at the Captain.
Grinning, the Captain explained, “Torchlight is a notorious group from Revered Ancient. They haven’t even been around a thousand years, but supposedly, all of their members are traitors from various species. The Intelligence Division has files on many of them. They try to get people to join them by claiming that their members... get destined opportunities to become gods. The requirement to join is that you have to put on a terrifying display called a Blood-Soaked Performance. The better the performance, the more likely they’ll approve.
“I heard that a number of years ago, someone from South Phoenix managed to use the opening of the god’s eyes to put on a performance like that, and ended up joining Torchlight.
“It's too bad they never came looking for me, otherwise I might have been able to join and see what this ‘chance to become a god’ is like. Is it just a way to follow the Ancient Emperors and Imperial Sovereigns? Or is it actually a method that lets you turn into a god? I have a hard time believing it’s true.”
“Same here,” Xu Qing said, narrowing his eyes. Then he rubbed the patriarch’s calligraphy and looked up at Master Sixth fighting Bai Li.
1. Bai Li: Bai is listed #70 on the list of 100 most common Chinese surnames, and it also means "white, pure,” etc. Li means “crime, sin, perverse, violate, ruthless, unshakable.” Madam Deathblade’s initial reaction was that this name sounded “sad and unlucky.” The Li character is uncommon enough that she looked it up to make sure she understood it correctly. As you can see from the definitions associated with that character, it definitely does not sound like a “nice” name. ☜